Ten Best: Osseo vs Totino-Grace
Osseo pushed the unfortunate luck of Totino-Grace to another game as Emmette Page hit a last second buzzer beater to give the Orioles a 63-60 victory. NHR was there for Ten Best. MVP: Emmette Page. If you pay attention…
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Continue ReadingOsseo pushed the unfortunate luck of Totino-Grace to another game as Emmette Page hit a last second buzzer beater to give the Orioles a 63-60 victory. NHR was there for Ten Best.
MVP: Emmette Page. If you pay attention to high school basketball in Minnesota you say the video from last night. Page caught on the left wing, attacked quickly, and released a shot within 2.3 seconds from about 40 feet that swished and won the game. The junior finished with ten points as he did a nice job all game attacking the Eagle defense. He went to the foul line eight times in the game (made five).
Best Offensive Performance: Nathan Kavolak. A 6-foot-4 wing who scored a game high 18 points with 14 of those coming in the second half. The Totino-Grace senior made his first five shots of the game including three three-pointers and had he not scored his quick dozen points Totino-Grace would have feel behind fast. Kavolak made six of his eight field goal attempts for 18 points plus grabbed six boards. Hamline was watching last night and Kavolak was also likely a reason that St. Thomas and St. Olaf were there too.
Best Defensive Performance: Osseo Frontcourt. NDSU signed Rocky Kreuser had a very quiet first half before a late dunk. Rocky scored nine points with nine boards but he had to fight through 6-foot-7 Alex Sinnen, Jazz Boker, Marice Nelson, and the Bezdiceks to even get good catches. Matt and John Bezdicek fought Kreuser every possession making every catch and every attempt a tough project. Both of the Bezdiceks had great all around games but their physical defense on Rocky was most memorable. John had a dozen points, five boards, and four assists shooting 3 for 11 for the game and 5 of 6 from the line. Matt had 11 points, seven boards, and five assists shooting 4 of 9 from the field.
Best Guy Off the Bench: Page, Marice Nelson, and Zachary Ban. We’ve discussed Page in detail but Osseo also got a nice contribution from the Marice Nelson, a 6-foot-4 agile junior forward. Nelson scored four field goals at the rim plus grabbed four boards. For Totino-Grace Zachary Ban came off the bench to hit two jumpers and score seven points.
Best Under the Radar Performance: Tyler Kittleson. The 6-foot-5 Totino-Grace power forward gave the Eagles what a fourth option on the floor should; nine points on 4 of 7 shooting including a three, seven boards, three assists moving the ball intelligently, and working hard.
Best Underclassmen: Cornell Richardson. No underclassmen played in the varsity game but Cornell is a talented freshman that immediately caught my eye in the junior varsity game. The guard is listed at 5-foot-9 but he looks bigger than that plus Cornell is a pace pushing guard that should play a load of minutes for Osseo the next three years.
Best Story to watch Moving Forward: Look at that Schedule! Totino-Grace started the year 8-1 with the only loss coming to New Prague who is a one loss team. Then came the Maple Grove, Park Center, Armstrong, and Osseo run, all in a row! Included in this four game losing streak is two buzzer beaters at the end of regulation and a two score loss to Armstrong. Next up is Elk River, Coon Rapids, Osseo, and Armstrong so it won’t get much easier but they should be able to win some of those games.
Best Aspect of the Environment: The Game Winner! The second the shot goes in Page sunk in excitement in happiness, the team exploded off the bench, the ladies in front of me jumped up in excitement, and then the video hit twitter giving Emmette Page and his score a chance to be seen all over the place.
Best Prospect: Kreuser. Rocky was a point and a rebound shy from a double-double and his production included was a massive baseline dunk and a pretty make from the arc. He shot 4 of 8 from the field as touches were tough but the potential was clear.
Other: Junior Guards. Charlie Jacob of Totino-Grace and Zach Theisen of Osseo were two of the biggest names in the game and they played their part in this game. Charlie scored 14 points including two treys on 5 of 10 shooting while Theisen scored 11 points making 5 of his 16 attempts. Both played the off guard much of the game while Theisen also played some lead guard and showed his toughness defensively and on the glass at times.